‘Getting a Little Handsy Here!’ CNN’s Chris Wallace Amused When 3-Way Interview Gets Physical
CNN’s Chris Wallace was amused when things got a little physical between Democratic Senator Ben Cardin and GOP Senator Bill Cassidy.
This week’s episodes of Wallace’s HBO Max/CNN series Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace featured an interview with country superstar Miranda Lambert and a new format for the show: a dual interview with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin pegged to the roiling debt limit snafu.
At one point in the joint interview, Cardin got a little animated and began grabbing Cassidy’s hand, resulting in some friendly hand-fighting that caused Wallace to remark “I love the two of you together! It’s getting a little handsy here!”:
WALLACE: Defaulting on our national debt is not the only problem facing the country. This week the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the tenth time, from zero to now over 5 percent. I continue our conversation asking the senators how far should the Fed go in the fight against inflation and are we at risk of a recession?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARDIN: I hope that they’ll exercise restraint. I believe in the independence of the Fed, so I’m not going to dictate what they’re going to do. I’m going to tell you this, though. Interest rates have a negative impact — increasing interest rates have a negative impact on our economy. I look at our employment numbers, I see the employment growth. I think our economy is strong and I hope that we can find a way to have a soft landing so that we can get back to a more reasonable pressure on how we use interest rates.
WALLACE: Senator Cassidy, how much confidence do you have in the Federal Reserve to get inflation under control without tanking the economy?
CASSIDY: They’re in tough shape. And I will say the Fed is trying to keep up with this administration’s policies. Joe Biden inherited low inflation rates, but you can start targeting the increased inflation from when he passed his $1.9 trillion package after the pandemic was over. But they, by golly, wanted to spend it on a partisan basis, they did. And they continue to pursue policies which pump dollars into the economy.
They’re in a tough shape. We need the administration to help him. That’s another reason why we need to have a negotiation in which we lower spending.
CARDIN: Yes, Joe Biden also inherited a large debt thanks to the Trump administration, thanks to —
CASSIDY: You voted for the bills —
CARDIN: Not the 2017 tax bill, I did not vote for, which — wait one minute now, my friend, wait one minute.
WALLACE: I love the two of you together! It’s getting a little handsy here!
CARDIN: No, you’re blaming everything on politics here but let’s be clear about what President Biden inherited. He inherited a large debt. He inherited 2017 tax bill —
WALLACE: He added to the debt?
CARDIN: Well, the — look, Trump administration also added to it.
WALLACE: No, I agree but then —
CARDIN: But their 2017 tax bill is one of the leading causes for the high debt we have today. It gave tax breaks to the wealthy and the large corporations and we’re paying that cost today.
CASSIDY: If we move beyond talking points —
CARDIN: Thank you.
CASSIDY: — we can talk about the tax cut and Jobs Act bill which gave us record low unemployment, which gave us income growth disproportionately among the lower income.
WALLACE: These are the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.
CASSIDY: As he phrases it, and I would say —
WALLACE: Well, that’s what they were.
CASSIDY: I would say this would be the Trump tax cuts, the congressional tax cuts that actually created the best economy in any of our lifetime.
CARDIN: So, why we have so much debt?
CASSIDY: So, in the CARES Act, when the economy —
CARDIN: No, wait a minute. The debt —
WALLACE: All right. Guys, we’re getting a little bit too much into the weeds.
Watch above via Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace.
